Ethan Siegel
A theoretical astrophysicist and science writer, host of popular podcast "Starts with a Bang!"
Ethan Siegel is a Ph.D. astrophysicist and author of "Starts with a Bang!" He is a science communicator, who professes physics and astronomy at various colleges. He has won numerous awards for science writing since 2008 for his blog, including the award for best science blog by the Institute of Physics. His two books "Treknology: The Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drive" and "Beyond the Galaxy: How humanity looked beyond our Milky Way and discovered the entire Universe" are available for purchase at Amazon. Follow him on Twitter @startswithabang.
Add sideways tornadoes to the list of things you can have when your atmosphere is as tenuous as Mars’ is. “This would be like an F8 tornado sweeping across the surface. […]
More massive is bigger, less massive is smaller, right? That’s not even half the story. “Billions of years from now our sun, then a distended red giant star, will have reduced […]
This isn’t an XZibit joke; it’s a real scientific question. And the answer may be that it’s possible after all. “People who work every day are kind of scared of things […]
Gravitational waves and electromagnetic ones don’t need to go together. But physics says it’s possible; what do the observations say? “The black holes collide in complete darkness. None of the […]
What we think of as our average region of the Universe might not be average at all. “No matter what technique you use, you should get the same value for the […]
Some say it’s more than all of humanity emits in a year. But people say a lot of things. What does the science say? “One volcano puts out more toxic gases — one […]
Think the periodic table is complicated? Now learn how each element in it was created. “It is the function of science to discover the existence of a general reign of order […]
You know what a black hole is, and we’ve found a few so far. But oh, are there ever so many more out there! “Black holes are the seductive dragons of […]
Every star must eventually run out of fuel and die… but did you know the galaxy itself will come to an end someday? “Unless one says goodbye to what one loves, […]
If we see an atomic nucleus decay in a particular way, it means the Universe is fundamentally different from how we see it today. “There are several categories of scientists in […]
The event horizon is real, and we know it without even needing to see it directly. “Where we’re going, we won’t need eyes to see.” –Sam Neill, Event Horizon If […]
Constant? Not-a-constant? Or is there a fundamental flaw in the way we’re doing business? This article was written by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in quantum gravity […]
It isn’t just supernovae or merging neutron stars. In fact, it’s the quietest way of all! “N6946-BH1 is the only likely failed supernova that we found in the first seven years […]
There’s a point beyond which we cannot go, there are things beyond that we cannot know. But here’s what we expect. “The Edge… there is no honest way to explain it […]
It’s not too late to change course, but we’re headed in the wrong direction faster than ever now. “Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,For strip-mined mountain’s majesty above the asphalt […]
NASA’s Earth observing missions aren’t the only casualty. Arguably, eliminating education is even more egregious. “First Rate People hire first rate people. Second rate people hire third rate people.” –Hermann […]
Did you guess ‘resonance’? Guess again. “At least six lamp posts were snapped off while I watched. A few minutes later, I saw a side girder bulge out. But, though the […]
The oddest star known in the galaxy is dimming again, and this time it might give up some of its secrets! “As far as I can tell, every telescope that can […]
After 13.8 billion years, we just might know all the rest to come Have you ever wondered how the Universe will end? In the far future, everything that we know, see, […]
If even black holes won’t last forever, what will happen when the last one goes? “My discovery that black holes emit radiation raised serious problems of consistency with the rest of […]
If the LHC can’t produce new fundamental particles, the collisions coming from it still a chance to teach us something incredible. “It was quite the most incredible event that has […]
Want humans to go to the Moon or Mars? Then let’s stop wasting time and resources and go do it! “We had this whole big beautiful place for discovery, and all […]
The aptly named ‘Fireworks galaxy’ just had its tenth supernova in the past century, setting a record. Learn how to see it! “When a massive star explodes at the end of […]
If every infinite outcome were equally likely, we’d never come to be. “Logic takes care of itself; all we have to do is to look and see how it does it.” –Ludwig […]
Past or present, if there’s ever been any life at all, it changes everything. “They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially ‘colonized’ it. So technically, I colonized […]
Dark energy may be real and the Universe may be accelerating, but does that mean a Big Freeze is inevitable? “It’s everywhere, really. It’s between the galaxies. It is in […]
Five independent images point to an incredible, single story, but the mystery of how it was created still remains. “The origin and evolution of life are connected in the most intimate […]
One of inflation’s co-founders lashes out against the community. But is there a scientific leg to stand on? “…an understanding of the infinite tree of universes seems to be needed in […]
The 20th century held some incredible advances across all the science. But astrophysics’ best days are yet to come. “When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up […]
Could there be a massive, giant planet beyond Neptune? Here’s what the science says… for now. “Finding out that something you have just discovered is considered all but impossible is one […]